Associate Article
McWane Ductile
One United, Iron-Strong Pipe Company
There are plenty of things to be excited about for 2015, the first, but not least, of which is our new name. As of January, the McWane ductile iron pipe companies, including McWane Cast Iron Pipe Company, Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company, Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Company, and Clow Water Systems, are unified under the new name McWane Ductile. The consolidation creates a united company focused on providing excellent service and quality products to our customers, while making all of the divisions recognizable as part of the McWane family of companies.
“Bringing the divisions together under one name strengthens our effort to provide the market with one united, iron-strong brand,” says Jeff Otterstedt, McWane Ductile senior vice president. “While we have many valued and rich traditions that are unique to each of our divisions, we believe that we become stronger collectively as one distinct brand.”
“Although our name has changed, our promise to our customers and partners remains the same,” says Mike Dodge, McWane Ductile vice president of sales and marketing. “McWane Ductile will continue to provide high-quality products and superior service. We’ve been building iron-strong utilities for nearly 100 years, and this change demonstrates our commitment to be around for generations to come.” There are many good reasons for undergoing this effort; some of the key ones are: providing our North American and international customers with a uniform business experience across our operations by standardizing purchase orders and acknowledgements, invoicing, RMA procedures, quotations, and most other customer service processes; unifying our operations under the McWane name, perhaps the most recognizable and respected brand in waterworks manufacturing globally; and aligning the best practices and cultures from our operations under one vision…building ironstrong utilities for generations.
“Our family of companies has always provided the best products and service in the industry,” says Otterstedt. “We also understand the importance of creating and sustaining a brand that reinforces our position as the industry leader. McWane Ductile will be that brand.”
Having a geographically diverse group of plants with full production lines also benefits customers with reduced lead times. “Wherever you are in the country, we’re close by, which means our products are easily accessible,” says Otterstedt.
We should note that Canada Pipe, also a member of the McWane family of companies, will retain its name, which best reflects its unique position as the leading ductile iron pipe provider in Canada.
A Seamless Transition The entire McWane Ductile team, the men and women on the floors of our manufacturing plants, our sales team, and company leadership, is committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for our many partners. We’ve spent a year planning for this change, and we anticipate a seamless shift as we move into daily operations as one company.
We know one question that’s likely on your mind is whether you’ll continue to work with the same people. We’re well aware of the countless longstanding relationships that have been developed and nurtured over the many years of our divisions’ histories, and so we’re happy to reassure you that you’ll continue working with the same familiar faces in the future. Our tradition of knowledge, responsiveness, and accountability will not change. If they haven’t already, your regular contacts will reach out soon to provide you with updated email addresses, a universal mailing address, and new website address.
With this unification, McWane Ductile also is fully committed to maintaining and continually investing in our three plants, located in Phillipsburg, New Jersey; Coshocton, Ohio; and Provo, Utah. We will now refer to the plants based on the states in which they’re located. For example, the Provo location is now called McWane Ductile Utah. This will make it easy to specify where products are made while maintaining one brand identity.
“Our ties to the communities where our plants are located are as strong as our products,” says Dodge. “We want to be clear that our commitment to staying and growing in these communities is steadfast, and we will continue to provide good-paying jobs with the stability and longevity that are hallmarks of our company.”
Learn More Moving ahead, we’ll work hard to keep you apprised of company updates. We recently launched the McWane Ductile website and welcome you to visit us at mcwaneductile.com for the latest company news and product information.
And if you haven’t already, we also encourage you to give the McWane Pocket Engineer™ app a try. It allows users to retrieve pertinent technical information on our products with ease through its automatic calculators. Users provide the relevant input data, and the McWane Pocket Engineer does the rest. It’s designed to work on any mobile device and on any computer and makes it easier than ever to do business with us.
As we embark on this new phase in the company’s history, we want to take a moment to remind you, our valued friends, how much we appreciate your business and partnership. We pledge to continue to do our best to inspire confidence in McWane Ductile and our ability to provide you with iron-strong systems for generations to come.